Don't Make THE FAIRY Return.

I mean, really. She called the other day and was HACKED that we'd "learned nothing".

GET POSTING OR EAT HER WRATH.

Anyway, this is something I was working on before I left. It's pretty weird, so get used to the insaneness.

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He laughed as she spoke, but she only smiled distractedly and traced the rim of the teacup in front of her. He, being consumed by her overall presence, didn’t notice this, but reveled instead in the fact that she had agreed to this in the first place. He spoke again and she glanced up at him and nodded slowly, murmuring into her cup as she took a drink. He couldn’t wipe that lousy grin off of his face.

All the while, Flora stood out side and kept shaking her head like Amenda was going to get the entire group shot in the foot. In her case, it didn’t help that Amenda was eighteen as of three days ago, whereas the target happened to be thirty.

Matt kept pacing the alleyway, as if it really were going bad, and at least twice, had to go to Rosco for mental support.

But lately, as the group had been struggling, it wasn’t too much of a surprise.

“What’s the verdict?” I whispered to Connor, who had to feel in charge in some way or another at all times. “Are we going to pull through this time or not?”

He narrowed his eyes, and if he hadn’t been so intent on making sure the situation was under control, he would’ve given me the steely glare that had been his trademark since day one. “Never imply losing, Lieutenant,” he whispered, his voice lacking inflection. “That will only get us caught.”

Of course. His personal mantra.

If I hadn’t been asking him out of pure boredom, I might have actually cared that he didn’t give me an answer. However, this was pure gold, the way Amenda was moving, and honestly, no one cared about Connor’s feel on the predicament. He was always cautious with his words, and made for an extremely superstitious housemate. The new-in’s were always scared of him at first, but after Halloween, usually came to ignore him with respect. In his early twenties, he had a fine layer of stubble over sun-touched skin, with only the faintest acknowledgement that he was experienced. His hazel eyes were dull and his face almost, in a way, withered, although he was young. The way he called every recruit Lieutenant, though, was perturbing, and made him seem much older than anyone else.

I was the seventh eldest out of the eleven that made up our group, currently. The other five were back at the Hide, our home of almost eleven years; Gerri, Scout, Lora, Mathias, and Hadley. We all we some kind of demented roommates, Connor being the eldest, at twenty-two, and Mathias being the youngest, at fourteen. The rest of us were scattered in-between in age, though when we were altogether, it was hard to tell who was how old – the maturity level at the Hide was pretty low.

“Marnie,” Flora hissed at me, glancing through the side window angrily. “I think it’s time for back-up.”

I shook my head and looked in as I stepped up behind her. “Amenda’s doing fine.”

She rolled her eyes and shook her head, falling back in the rhythm. “Right, because she did so well before.”

“That was the last moron’s fault.” I said sternly. “He wouldn’t get his hands off of me long enough to even look at any kind of fresh meat.”

Rosco sighed. “Twenty-two dollars. What kind of jerk only carries around twenty-two dollars?”

“One that likes to grope minors.” Matt filled in blandly.

“This doesn’t explain why he didn’t bat his eyes twice at Amenda.” Flora retorted gruffly, inching even closer to the window. “I still think that girl can’t strut it like Marnie can.”

Rosco chuckled to himself. “You sure have a way with words, Flor.”

I smirked over at him, and turned back to the window. As the one café in town that actually had teacups, not to mention a side window in an alley, La Fève was a common stop for us these days. Before, when we’d been a lot more adventurous, we would actually try to get a rile out of someone after we took their money, and because of that, I’d spent the night in jail more than once, the enraged ‘suitor’ tempted to press charges until, of course, I told him about how I was a minor. By then, he was usually asking to pay my bail as well.

Since then, a number of them had turned and ran without bothering to spring me from jail, and Connor had to come down and use our money to do it. That hadn’t happened often, but enough, and sufficiently drained our funds, leading to the decision to play it safe for a while at Le Fève.

The scene in the window shifted, and all of the sudden, Amenda was crying.

“What the freak…?” I whispered.

Matt stopped pacing. “What?”

Flora cussed. “This was not in the plan.”

“She’s improvising,” Connor said shakily.

Roscoe frowned. “Or she could be stabbing us in the foot.”

“It’s perfectly fine. As long as…” Connor drifted off. The guy was serious now, leaning across the table to listen to Amenda.

This was never a fantastic sign.

“Move in, Marnie!” Connor whispered harshly.

I fought back the urge to punch something. This wasn’t supposed to be happening right now, when I was three months away from outgrowing my status as a minor! I had spent close to the last six weeks teaching her how to lure them in and play them like cards!

I really prayed that he wouldn’t look my way, and that maybe, Amenda was improvising.

Well, and succeeding. Improvising and succeeding.

I pulled off my jacket and smiled easily as I walked through the doors to Le Fève. I knew I looked careless, and maybe a little windblown, but attractive, if not pretty.

Before I even got three feet in the door, his eyes met mine, and he smiled.

I stopped dead. His smile got even wider and he gestured me to join Amenda and him in a booth.

I swallowed and lost the ‘feminine glow’.

“Run,” I said casually, “What exactly are you doing with a minor?”

Amenda wouldn’t shut up, and was blubbering into her tea about theives and dates and hazelnut coffee. I gritted my teeth.

“Nice to see you again, Marnie.” He said casually. “What brings you to Le Feve?”

“Look, if you’re going to arrest her, do it already.” I sighed. “She’s scared crapless.”

He shook his head. “I was just asking her some questions.”

“I didn’t mean to, Marnie! I didn’t! But he was so nice, and then he asked me if I knew you, and I mean, after all those stories, I knew who he was, because Scout told me all about him, and what else could I do but tell him about us, even though he knows! I don’t even…”

“AMENDA” I said. “Shut up.”

“But he’s… he’s…”

“Officer Trace Run.” He filled in, looking bemused. “But really, don’t say it like it’s bad or anything.”

“Right, say it like it’s death to our kind. That’ll keep the spirits up.”

He snorted.

Trace Run had always been after us, since our first run-in with the real law back when I was thirteen, and had actually saved me once.

However, after a few more run-ins, he realized what we were doing and how we were doing it, and started following us.

I’d forgotten to tell Amenda too much about him, but that was only because I hadn’t seen him in a year and a half. The blonde hair, the blue eyes, the dimples that could be seen from space…

“Alright, look,” I reasoned. “I’m proposing…”

“Really now! This is new.”

“Run,” I said flatly, “Let it go.”

He just smiled.

“I’m proposing that you let Amenda, here, leave, and in turn, I’ll talk to you.”

“Ah,” he chuckled. “But you talk me in circles.”

“Ah,” I countered, “But Amenda can barely talk at all.”

He looked at me momentarily, weighing the options, as Amenda started a whole new round of crying. “Scout said that if Run ever caught up to you again he would take you and tie you up or something, so when he told me who he was, I freaked! And Scout said that you hated him for things that were unspeakable and then…”

She started bawling wordlessly.

I had picked Amenda as my replacement for good reason. When she cried, she looked adorable, when she flirted, she looked appealing, and when she was bored, she became all the more attractive.

Well, that’s what Mathias said. He was exceptionally smart for a fourteen-year-old. Also, since his hormones had hit overdrive, he was always trying to talk Scout or Connor into recruiting some cute girl around his age.

That hadn’t happened yet.

But Amenda, with her silky red hair, light blue eyes, and reddish freckles dotted across her face, made me, the original bait, look like crap, which was okay, since I was retiring into other duties in three months.

So I’d chosen her.

And now, sitting in front of a certified officer who actually knew us, I was regretting it. Go figure.

“So Scout’s been reminiscing?” Run asked with contained amusement.

“I wouldn’t exactly call it that.”

He motioned for Amenda to go. I don’t think she could’ve run out of there any faster.

“Alright, Marnie, what’s with the café run?”

I sat down where Amenda had been, hoping secretly that Flora was ripping her apart for leaving a comrade. That was rule number one – while ditching was acceptable, when self-sacrifice was offered, you stayed put with the sacrificer.

I looked up at him blankly. “I tried to keep her from doing it, officer. After all, I’m just a little innocent seventeen-year-old with no kind of incriminating background.”

Run leaned back and took a drink of the tall coffee in front of him. “Bull.”

“Alright, the incriminating background thing is complete crap, but you can’t prove I’ve done anything wrong.”

He snorted. “Do the words ‘Sting Operation’ mean anything to you?”

“She was a girl who was my friend, who wanted to score a date with you. Big whoop.”

He shook his head, smirking. “You would think so, but we actually have a notice concerning the entire Hide on the bulletin board. Your face, with everyone’s names underneath it.”

“I’m scared, Run. Really. I’m petrified.”

His eyebrows rose. “Smart aleks end up in jail, as you should know by now.”

“Look, Run, there was a time when you were some kind of bad boy poser, but since you can’t do anything to me, I’m leaving.”

He shrugged and smiled. “Have a nice afternoon, Marnie.”

“Yeah, whatever,” I said, flipping him the finger as I walked out, two older ladies, both apparently members of the local Red Hat Society, gasping at my signing.

If only they knew about the thieving.

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<3Lauren,
who is currently arguing over chapter two.